The two-time defending NL champs in danger of not making the playoffs

There was a large contingency of optimistic Phillies fans who defended their team during the club's nearly six-week offensive rut, which lasted from mid-May until late June.

They worked incessantly at calming down their worrywart counterparts on blogs when they weren't talking up their team on Twitter.

Now, with the midway point of the season approaching, those same fans are looking like suckers…by no fault of their own.

The Phillies --- I know many of you don't want to hear this --- are in trouble.

The injury situation keeps getting worse. And the offense is doing little to back a pitching staff that has done more than enough to steady the wobbly ship.

This season for the Phillies feels eerily similar to what the Mets went through last year, and it's hard to believe things will get better; they certainly never did for the Mets.

The Phillies currently have seven players on the disabled list, and several of them aren't returning anytime soon.

Expect Chase Utley, who had thumb surgery on Thursday, to miss at least eight weeks, and don't be surprised if it's more like 10 weeks.

Placido Polanco, second in the league in hitting, will be out at least three to four weeks.

There's no timetable yet for Carlos Ruiz, who on Thursday saw a concussion specialist, who wasn't encouraged by some of the tests he administered to the catcher.

J.A. Happ never expected to be making this many rehab outings, yet he finds himself back in at Coca-Cola Park on Sunday for another tune-up. In five rehab appearances, he's done little to convince front office personnel that he's ready. His velocity, at its best, has been in the mid-to-upper 80s. I haven't gotten any reports of him reaching the low 90s, where he's at when he's healthy and in the Phils' rotation.

Happ's numbers aren't helping matters. While the club is most concerned about building his arm strength, there's certainly more of a spotlight on the results than anyone is letting on. In five combined rehab outings with Single-A Clearwater, Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the left-hander is 1-1 with a 6.98 ERA in 19 1/3 innings.

The injuries are just part of the equation though.

Put simply, this team isn't hitting with any consistency.

The Phillies already have been shut out eight times this year, putting them on pace for 17 shutouts, something that hasn't happened to them since 1971. Through 161 games a season ago, they were blanked just seven times.

Saturday against Pittsburgh's Ross Ohlendorf, 0-6 this season and winless in his previous 16 starts, Philadelphia managed just five hits. Jimmy Rollins hasn't found a rhythm since returning from his second stint on the DL. In his 10 games since coming back, he's hitting .175 (7-for-40).

Jayson Werth looks lost again. He's batting .154 (4-for-26) with 13 strikeouts and no extra-base hits in his last seven games.

Raul Ibanez hasn't come close to looking like the guy hitting early in 2009. Through 76 games this season, he's hitting .236 with six home runs and 36 RBIs. During the first half last year (in 64 games), Ibanez batted .309 with 22 home runs and 60 RBIs en route to making his first all-star team.

And Shane Victorino looks like an impatient rookie in the batter's box. In his last 14 games, the center fielder is 12-for-53 (.226) with only eight runs scored. On Friday, he got the day off, then came in as a pinch hitter with his club trailing by two runs and he swung at the first pitch. Bad decisions.

One of those guys has to get hot. Someone has to inspire the rest of the hitters. It shouldn't fall on the shoulders of Greg Dobbs, Dane Sardinha, Ross Gload or Wilson Valdez.

Until that happens, the struggles will continue. And, barring a shutout by the pitching staff, the losses are going to keep piling up and the distance between the Phils and the Braves and Mets will grow.

The latest rumblings have people calling, and others ordering, general manager Ruben Amado Jr. to make a trade. And he might, but it won't be the big-name player you're all hoping for. That's because for the Phillies to get anyone of substance, they'll have to give up more than what they'd get in return. Why? Because other GMs know how desperate the Phillies are.

And I don't think it's worth giving up what's left of the farm (i.e. Domonic Brown) for a chance at a quick fix.